Love or Happiness?
by Angel of Atonement
Summary: As Link tries to find his place in the world he saved he finds it more difficult than he expected. He will form many close relationships along the way, but which will lead to true happiness? Told from the POV of each chapter's namesake. Please R & R.
1. Saria

**AoA****: Hello fellow Legend of Zelda fans. I hope I am able to please as many readers with this new work as I was with my last.**

**Link****: This is a lot different than your Zelda humour story, that's for sure.**

**AoA****: Quite right. As an attempt to better myself as a writer I must practice all types of writing. I don't believe I have done enough practice with emotions over the years and so I now present this oneshot, which has evolved in to a collection, in order to expand my horizons.**

**Saria****: A collection of oneshots?**

**AoA****: Yes. Initially this first chapter was just a oneshot and so was the second chapter when I first conceived it, but then I realized how well they could work together when set in the same time line and a much larger story was soon formed in my mind. Now I have more chances to work on my POV writing and I hope I come out the better for it. Now Saria, if you would, please do the disclaimer.**

**Saria****: Angel of Atonement does not own The Legend of Zelda series, therefore any of my thoughts and feelings described here are not necessarily an actual part of my character, nor are the events that are referenced a part of the true Legend of Zelda continuity, the rights of which are owned by the company Nintendo.  
**

**Link****: Uh...what's with the speech?**

**Saria****: This whole chapter is me talking to the reader. I'm just getting warmed up.**

**AoA****: Here we go!**

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**Love or Happiness?**

**Saria**

First love.

Does it really mean anything? Does it ever blossom in to the type of thing that you can be happy with for an entire lifetime? Even if that lifetime is not an immortal one?

And when you are young, in spirit if not in age, then can one even understand what love truly means?

I don't quite remember the day I was born. My first memories are of my fairy partner, watching over me as I lay in the forest. The Great Deku Tree gave life to me and to Mido, the very first children of the forest.

The Kokiri.

We played together in the forest happily, but we were lonely. Such things weren't meant to last, however, when the Deku Tree called us to him and we were given new children to raise and play with. They grew quickly until they reached full Kokiri maturity and over many years new children would join us in our forest home. Sometimes just one. Sometimes two or even three at a time. The forest itself grew homes and playgrounds for us and we watched over it in return for it's blessings. Such was our way of life. That was how we liked it.

I do not know my age in Hylian years. As a Kokiri time means very little. Each day we simply enjoyed the fruits of the forest and looked forward to the next day we would be given. We made up holidays and festivals, which we kept track of on calendars made with the guidance of the Deku Tree. Though we knew little of time the old guardian of forest knew all and was happy to share with us.

He told us not only of time but of the history of our forest and our world. The three goddesses that carved Hyrule in to existence and the other races that lived in the beautiful country.

But that was the price of our happiness. To only be told of the world, never to see it. For if we ever left our life giving forest we would succumb to what the Deku Tree called death. The childish minds of the Kokiri may not have fully understood it, though I felt that I did, but they loved the forest and the Deku Tree and would not do anything to go against our guardian's wishes.

Our lives were full of cheer and happiness, but I always felt like something was missing. No one else seemed to notice. It wasn't something I could explain.

I may not remember the day I was born, but I will never forget the day he came in to my life.

The day the Deku tree called us to his side and presented to us a new child. A new friend. The Deku tree named him Link and told us to take good care of him until he grew up like the rest of us.

We were all excited of course. We were never bored in the forest we called home, but a new Kokiri still meant a new friend and new possibilities.

That excitement soon turned to confusion.

Link did not grow as quickly as any Kokiri we had ever raised before. The last children born would not have known this of course, but Mido was the first to notice and mention it. It took several of what we had learned to call years for Link to be able to walk and talk and play all on his own.

We didn't mind. We thought he was special.

But Link would always ask why he had no fairy and we would never have an answer. Even the Deku Tree would only say it wasn't yet time. Mido's taunting and Link's temper soon turned the feelings that he was special to just thinking of him as different.

But not my feelings.

I would always see Link as special. He had to put up with a lot because of his differences and I admired him for it. Perhaps Mido noticed that I enjoyed Link's company more than the others because his usually kind, though slightly bossy, nature became more like that of a bully whenever Link was around. Since he and I were the first Kokiri I suppose he always thought he and I would always be best friends.

I certainly hadn't thought of Mido as any less of a friend. He was just as close to me as he had always been. Maybe more.

But there was just something about Link. I didn't know what it was and still don't, I suppose. I doubt it was because I could sense his destiny or anything, though part of me always felt like he wouldn't be around forever.

That feeling must have been it.

Every other friend I had I knew I would have forever, but when I played with Link it was like each moment was more precious because eventually we would no longer be able to have them.

I don't know why I felt that, but I didn't even realize what that feeling was until after he really did leave.

Sometimes I wonder if that was the only feeling I had.

It took many more years than the others but eventually Link became, what we Kokiri considered, fully grown. Link continued to gain height over time but once he was no longer considered a baby no one really noticed his growth.

No one but me. I never did say anything, though. I just thought it was part of what made him so special to me.

Link and I soon became even closer friends. Everyone in the forest had a best friend and sometimes more than one Kokiri wanted to be friends with another. I suppose in the rest of Hyrule it would be compared to making couples, but we were only children, as we would always be, and it was simply a matter of friendship to us.

Mido and I had always been known as the best of friends. We had been together the longest after all. Perhaps part of Mido's attitude towards Link was because the Kokiri soon came to see Link and I as the forest's closest friends instead of Mido and I. Link was slightly set apart from all of the others so he valued my friendship more than any other Kokiri could. That was all.

Link and I were best friends for what seemed like forever, though I suppose to those who live forever any time can seem extended, rather than the very short view of time held by mortal races.

Funny how it's not the other way around.

I have no idea how old Link was when it happened. The moment I'll always remember, no matter how long my eternal life goes on.

Like I said before, time means very little to the Kokiri and we never count our age. I doubt Link could tell you how old he really is. He just goes by his best guess. After all, even his real birthday is unknown to him. Only the day the was given to us in the forest.

This was not long before he did eventually leave us. Less than a year I'm sure.

We were both in the Sacred Forest Meadow, a place the two of us loved to spend time together. I would usually just play my ocarina while Link would listen. I offered to teach him to play one of his own but he never accepted. He would rather just enjoy my music. I think the only reason he took the Fairy Ocarina I offered him before he left was because he wanted something to remember me by. Just in case he didn't make it back.

I had just finished my favourite song and was taking a break from playing. Link had come to sit beside me on my favourite stump. It always seemed to be there just for me to sit on as I played.

Link looked nervous that day. I remember because he never looked that way around me before. He talked to me about a few things. Things that bothered him. Things he was thankful for.

Mido's constant teasing and the fact that he was the only kokiri without a fairy partner still bothered him a lot. He even told me that he was not sleeping well lately, though he wasn't sure if that was the cause. He eventually found out it was something else entirely, of course, but for now it was troubling him.

I comforted him as I always did. He was my best friend. I would never want him to feel sad.

Link thanked me for always being there for him. He thanked me for being his friend, despite his differences. I told him not to ever consider himself different, because I never did. That was the truth, after all.

Link smiled at that. He and I had been embracing at the time. A hug is the best way to make a person feel better. I let him rest his head on my shoulder, as I had many times before, and I remember looking at him with a little bit of sorrow. I couldn't stand the fact that my other friends were making my best friend feel this way. Link himself would never let anyone else from the forest know about his doubts. In the presence of others he always put on a brave face and took anything that was set against him with courage.

That courage was part of why I admired him. Another part was that he was not afraid to be open with me when we were alone. Little did I know at the time that it was this very aspect of his character that would save our land from destruction.

After a few moments Link looked up at me again. There was no longer a smile on his lips, though he didn't exactly look sad either.

It was a look I hadn't ever really seen before.

I could only compare it to nervousness at the time and I suppose I wasn't far off. Link was no doubt very nervous, now that I know what he must have been feeling.

I looked in to his eyes and soon I couldn't help but return that same look he was giving me. Something about it made me feel different. Suddenly I was slightly nervous myself. Link leaned closer to me and I thought he might have wanted to say something, but even though I was still confused by his sudden mysterious actions I was only going to get more confused by what happened next.

Link kissed me.

Now, it wasn't like I had never kissed Link before. Even on the lips. The Kokiri were children but we still showed affection to each other. We loved our siblings and showed our feelings as such and we would kiss the cheeks or foreheads of those who were feeling sad or those we wanted to thank for something, just like we would hug to show our love for one another. And when we were happy or excited a quick kiss on the lips was not uncommon between friends. Over all my time in the forest I doubt there is any Kokiri I haven't shared one of those types of moments with.

But this was different.

Link pressed his lips to mine slowly and gently, with compassion instead of excitement or comfort or even thanks. His eyes soon closed but I remember mine were wide open. A million things ran through my head in the few seconds that we held this kiss. Part of me felt very confused, but another felt...peaceful. Like this was something I had wanted to happen but didn't know it.

Eventually Link broke our embrace, with the same tenderness he had started it, and slowly opened his eyes to look in to mine. My eyes were no longer carrying a look of confusion. Now they were carrying a look of wonder, which I consider to be something quite different.

Now, we Kokiri may have been children, but we weren't completely oblivious to the world around us. As I have mentioned, the Deku Tree told us much about Hyrule and it's people. We were told about how people grew in to adults, found mates to spend their lives with and to have families together.

For poor Link this was just another thing that separated him from the rest of us. Something he wouldn't even know how to explain. No Kokiri would ever have the same feelings Link was slowly developing, as all Hylians do. Had Link known he was a member of that race perhaps he wouldn't have felt so guilty about what he had done later on.

Link was only trying to work out the natural feelings he was developing that none of his Kokiri friends, not even me, could have possibly explained or helped him with. But apparently Link felt like this was just another terrible difference he had from us because after a few seconds of looking in to each other's eyes once more he turned away and ran in to the Lost Woods, back towards the village.

I held my hand to my mouth for a while after he left, still unsure about what had happened but not scared or worried about it either. Link was still my best friend and he always would be.

I saw Link the very next day of course. He seemed nervous around me at first but I acted normally and soon he did as well. I don't know if he thought I had forgiven him or something but to me it wasn't something I needed to forgive. I simply didn't know what to say about it and was certain Link had no idea what it really meant either.

And so we continued on as we had before, happy once again and ready to enjoy the lives the forest had blessed us with.

But that wouldn't last, as part of me always knew it wouldn't.

Eventually the time came that Link left us for his journey. His destiny. He, more than any Kokiri, had always wondered what it was like out in the world. I suppose he wanted to know if there were others like himself somewhere out there.

Of course, he wasn't gone for good. He came back to buy supplies or to visit every now and then. He also came to the meadow so i could teach him my song. With it he and I talked a lot while he traveled and I helped him whenever I could with the knowledge the Deku Tree had shared with me.

He came back to the forest some time after his adventure was over. He lived among us again and I was happy to have him back. While he was gone perhaps my feelings, the ones I had experienced for the first time with my first real kiss, had deepened.

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Why do 'they' know everything?

Eventually it became apparent to the rest of the Kokiri that Link wasn't really one of us. A new Deku Tree sprout appeared where the past one had died and Link's true identity as a Hylian and as a hero were revealed to us all.

At first there was happiness and celebrating. We even started two new annual holidays. One to honour the day the Deku tree was reborn and another the day before to honour the day Link saved all of Hyrule.

But the happiness couldn't last forever.

Link was with us a few moreweeks but eventually he decided it was time to go. He couldn't live with us in the forest forever, after all.

No matter how much I wanted him to.

As he left, promising to always come back to visit us and to play my song every day, part of me wanted to go with him.

I knew it would mean death, but that wasn't the real reason I stayed in the forest. Part of me was willing to risk death just for the chance to stay with him. The boy I had grown to love.

The reason I stayed was because I didn't love him.

Not the way he was capable of loving at least.

Link may have awoken unexpected feeling in me with his love, but I could never really match it. I was a Kokiri and no matter how much I experienced I could not overcome that fact. I would always be a child while Link would grow older, Not only that, but my body was simply incapable of producing the same feelings for him that he could someday have for another.

Love, true, romantic, caring and passionate love, was quite literally not in me.

And so I blessed him and his new journey. His journey to find his place in the world he had rescued.

As I asked before, does your first love really mean anything?

I believe it does.

What I had with Link may not have been love in the way that word is supposed to mean, but it was love nonetheless. It was love and it has changed my life. For as long as I am alive, and it will be for a very long time, I will always remember Link and I will forever be a better and more caring person because of it. I think I may even help the other children become better people just by my example.

And for Link? I'm sure it meant something to him too.

I hoped he wouldremember me for the rest of his unfortunately numbered days. I hoped thatthe feelings he shared with me helped prepare him to find someone he really could spend his life with. I hoped he would find the right girl to make him happy.

The way I never could.

Little did I know that Link's journey to find his place in the world would not be an easy one. Nor did I know that experiences such as the single moment we had shared would be a deciding factor in exactly how his life eventually turned out.

Link has chosen where he thinks he belongs and I will support him, though that won't stop me from secretly wiorrying at times. I will continue to love him, not as he can love another but as family. As the brother I am closest to but not related to. That was all ever did or will feel for Link, but that's reallyall I want.

I can only hope that my contribution to his life did not affect him negatively in the long run.

I can only hope he's alright with where he is now. With his place in the world.

I can only hope for the happiness...

...of my first and only love.

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**  
AoA****: There you are fellow romance fans. I can only hope you enjoyed this idea of what Link and Saria's friendship before the Ocarina of Time story began could have been like.**

**Saria****: (Sniff) That was...(Sniff)...beautiful.**

**Link****: Not bad I guess. But just because you got Saria to cry doesn't mean the readers will like it.**

**AoA****: Indeed. That is true.**

**Saria****: Huh?**

**AoA****: And so I implore anyone who reads this story, love it or hate it, please review and let me know your thoughts. I really want to improve this aspect of my writing so your feedback will be greatly appreciated.**

**Saria****: Wait a minute!**

**AoA****: Also, please do not flame this story. I am writing so I can improve, so I am seeking constructive criticism. Flames will not help me get any better.**

**Saria****: What do you mean it doesn't matter what I feel?**

**Link****: I think we better get out of here, AoA.**

**Saria****: Are my thoughts not important enough for you two?**

**AoA****: Peace out!**


	2. Malon Part I

**AoA: Merry Christmas to all who read this chapter. I realize that it won't be Christmas for everyone who reads this for the first time, but I don't think the true meaning of the season can only be expressed on December twenty fifth so God bless you all.**

**Link: Here comes another attempt from the author to practice his romantic style of writing and improve his work with your reviews.**

**Malon: So be sure to be honest in your reviews. He needs your criticism in order to get better.**

**AoA: I most certainly do. Now I would like to point out an error in the last chapter that I forgot to remove when I decided to change it from a one shot to a multiple chapter story. I had said at the end that Link remained with the Kokiri a few years after his adventure. In truth this should be a few weeks in order for my continuity to make sense. My timeline of events won't work if Link stays for a few years. After all, he couldn't have gone to Termina if he stayed in Hyrule for more than one year.**

**Link: He's already gone back and corrected the mistake for any new readers, by the way. I'd also like to point out that at the end of Saria's chapter it was supposed to be unclear about whether or not I came back to the forest eventually. Was she hoping I was happy because I was gone or because I came back and she was worried that it was only to make her feel better or if I actually wanted to be there? This is because the POVs of each chapter take place at the end of the story and only my POV in the last chapter will reveal where I actually am in the end.**

**AoA: Thank you, Link. Now Malon, please do the disclaimer for this chapter.**

**Malon: Angel of Atonement does not own the Legend of Zelda series and is not making any profit from this story. The rights belong to Nintendo.**

**AoA: Alright Malon, this chapter is all up to you now.**

**Link: So do your best to read AoA's script and impress the readers.**

**Malon: (Gulp) Uh…sure…**

**AoA: I'm counting on you, girl!**

**Link: So don't let us down!**

**Malon: (Sweating) Um…I'll…try…**

**AoA: Here we go!**

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**Love or Happiness?**

**Malon - Part I: Friendship**

Young love.

Others like me who have experienced this feeling know that it is both blissful and saddening at the same time.

Of course, this doesn't mean that it can't have a happy ending, I suppose. I should know, after all.

My young love was something I'll never forget. It taught me a lot and it has prepared me for this very day, of that I have no doubt. I can feel my mind wandering now, even as I walk down the aisle. Maybe I should be focusing on what I'm doing, but perhaps this is my best chance to look back at the past. My best chance to make sure I have learned all the lessons I can from it before I move my gaze to look only on the future.

What better day for a girl to remember the lessons of love that she has learned than her own wedding day?

I remember the day I met my veryfirst love. It's a little hazy, being so many years ago, but it is still with me. I still remember how he looked back then.

Link.

I met him in the market while waiting for my dad to come back from the castle. Even though I had just met Link I felt like I could trust him. When I found out that he was planning on sneaking in to the castle, I believe it was to meet the Princess, I asked him to find my father for me who was very late. I was getting worried but Link's confidence kept me calm. He bravely snuck past all the guards and found my dad sleeping where he shouldn't have been and used the cucoo I had given him while it was still an egg to wake him up. Dad told me that he had been found by a little boy wearing green who was being followed by a fairy.

Fairy boy. That's what I called him. I thought he was a child of the forest. The ones from Hyrulian legend. Of course, back then he thought that himself. We both know the truth now.

I was thankful to Link but I must admit that I never really gave him much thought after that. I never did think much about people I met in town. I never got to see them very much at all. It was only on those rare times when dad actually let me accompany him on a delivery.

I never resented my father for my lack of friends. Lon Lon ranch was located roughly in the center of Hyrule Field where I had almost no chance of ever meeting someone my own age frequently enough to have a meaningful friendship, but that wasn't dad's fault. I sometimes saw other kids at the market but they were never really interested in meeting me either.

Until Link.

He was probably the first boy to ever approach me while I was in town. He seemed to be a traveler himself so I guess he didn't care if I wasn't usually in town. I didn't really think about that much. I was just a little girl after all. How surprised I was tosee him againonly a few days later.

Link arrived on the ranch some time after we got back from the delivery. I didn't really know what to think. No one had ever come to the ranch just to visit me like Link said he did. I had never been able to make real friends and had occupied myself with the animals. My entire childhood after my mother's death was more or less spent with our livestock. The cows and horses felt as much like my family to me as dad and Mr. Ingo. My favourite horse was the closest thing I ever had to a friend.

Epona.

Whenever I needed someone besides my dad to talk to, to listen to me, she was there. She always seemed to know when to nuzzle me if I felt sad or when to play with me when I was happy. I would spend large parts of my days just singing my mother's song to her. It was her favourite.

In fact, that was what Link had found me doing not only on the path to Hyrule Castle that night I gave him my cucoo egg, but also when he arrived at the ranch.

I found out later that he hadn't come right out in to the field to meet me. According to Mr. Ingo he had wandered in to the stables to look at the animals. He said Link was bothering him while he was trying to work. I never really believed that. It was just like something Ingo would say. He always was a little on the harsh side, but he also helped me and my dad take care of the ranch so I never held that against him.

Link seemed to get uneasy around Ingo after a few of his visits. I don't know why. He never did anything mean that I was aware of.

My dad also told me that Link had wandered in to the house looking for me. Apparently dad challenged him to that super cucoos game he was always getting newcomers to play. I was surprised to hear Link had managed to win it on his first try in record time. Most adults who accepted the challenge usually took at least two tries or at least most of the time limit before they figured it out. Dad said that he had awarded Link a free bottle of Lon Lon Milk as a reward. He also said that he had jokingly asked Link if he'd like to marry me but then told the boy that he was only kidding.

I never did ask Link or my dad what the fairy boy's reply had been back then. Maybe part of me was scared to find out. It's kind of silly to think so since we were just kids.

Yeah…silly.

But eventually Link did make his way out to the field where I was singing to the horses. He approached me from behind and I at first assumed that it was my dad or Ingo, but then I heard the flapping of tiny wings. I turned around to see the fairy boy I had met in Castle Town and was quite surprised that he had followed me out there. He told me that he wanted to see me again after he woke up my dad. I thanked him but inside I was a little disappointed that he hadn't come out of anything other than concern. I didn't even realize how much I wanted a real friend back then.

Luckily for me Link wasn't just going to leave after a quick hello. He asked me about life on the ranch and about my animals. It was fun to talk about them since I never had a chance to really do so before. Link seemed interested in getting to know the animals too. Looking back I think maybe he was trying to impress me or something, but that probably wasn't it. He was an explorer seeing the world for the first time. He was interested in everything new. That's probably the real reason he came to the ranch in the first place.

Probably.

As always Epona was unfriendly to new people. Fairy boy ran after her for a little while, trying everything he could think of to appease the colt. Eventually he came back to me and told me he couldn't get Epona to like him. He looked so sad that I decided to teach him Epona's favourite song. Link pulled out a cute little ocarina and played the melody that went with my vocal and the next thing he knew Epona wouldn't leave him alone.

That was a big surprise. Epona's Song usually got rid of her initial mistrustof strangers, but she had never become so affectionate towards someone so quickly before. I could tell right then that Link was special. They say animals can sense things we humans can't. Maybe even back then Epona could tell link had a good heart. Or maybe she could tell what he would some day mean to me. Who can really say for sure? All I know is that when Link eventually did leave late that evening, after fully exploring the ranch and saying goodbye to me and Epona, I hoped more than anything that he would come back. I hoped that by sharing my most valued possession with him, my mother's song, that I had made a connection with a person my own age. That I might have made a friend.

I wasn't disappointed.

Link came back many times throughout his journey and each time he would tell me about the sights he had seen and the people he had met. I never did learn why he was traveling, but back then it didn't matter. I was just too happy to have someone to talk to that could actually say things back. Every time he came he would play Epona's Song as I sang and would have some fun racing against Epona. It was a true joy to watch. Sometimes he would visit at night and we would just look at the stars together quietly or while talking about our very different lives. He was even there for me when one of our cows got sick and I needed a shoulder to cry on. He truly saw me at my best and worse, even though he wasn't able to visit on any regular schedule. It was like he was meant to be there for me when I needed him. I guess that made me grow even more attached to the fairy boy. He was a friend I knew I could count on and that meant a lot.

I was always a little sad when he said he had to get going again. Link was my first and best friend and as much as I loved his stories I hated that he always had to leave after such a short time. Still, whenever he left Link would smile and promise to come back soon, even if I didn't ask. That always made me happy. Epona and I would wait patiently and he always returned to us.

I remember the day Link came back after a particularly long absence of about a month. He didn't have any new stories for me after what he had toldme about that spooky well on his second to last visit and the mysterious desert temple he described on his last. But it wasn't a new land of Hyrule I was interested in. It was the fact that fairy boy no longer had his fairy.

This was the day that link told me he had discovered on his journey that he was not a Kokiri but a Hylian like myself and that he wasn't allowed to have a fairy partner if he wasn't from the forest.

I found this to be as unfair as Link did. Navi had become almost as close a friend to me as Link himself. He not being much of a talker it was often Navi who had filled in most of his tales or told me the truth when Link exaggerated. He always did try to impress me with his adventures.

Epona and I tried our best to relieve his loss. He was clearly devastated by losing his best friend but he still seemed to be able to put on a happy face. After spending the night with us at the ranch, dad had grown to care for Link as well since he was my only friend, Link set out once again. He told me that he was going to try and find something for him in Hyrule Castle Town.

I was sad that he had to leave again. Part of me wanted to offer him a place at the ranch but I knew it wouldn't work out. He was still only twelve years old like me and wouldn't really be able to do enough chores at the ranch to justify a job. Dad liked Link but he couldn't afford to support someone besides me if they couldn't pull their own weight.

And so I sadly watched him leave. He back after about a week to tell us that he had gotten a job as a page boy at the castle. Apparently the Princess had convinced her father to take pity on the orphan boy. Link had told me that he met the Princess a couple of times on his journey but I never realized that the two of them had become actual friends. When he told us that his work was going to keep him at the castle pretty much all the time I would be lying to myself to say I wasn't jealous. I knew I wasn't going to see my best friend for a very long time and that really upset me. I did, however, understand that Link had to do this for himself. To try and find his place in the world was how he had put it. So, after he and I serenaded Epona once more, he set out for the castle.

It was a whole year before I saw him again. He sent me a letter every week without fail but it wasn't the same. It did make me feel good to know that he wasn't forgetting about me, though. It made all those hard nights a little easier to bear. When he did visit the ranch again it was to tell me that he was actually leaving on another journey. Apparently a year of being a page just couldn't help him get his mind off his pain. He said he didn't know when he would return but that he was going to try and find Navi no matter how long or far he had to search.

I knew how he felt. Link had become my best friend but I knew that Navi was his. They had explored all of Hyrule together after all. Link was about to set out but I convinced him to play Epona's Song once more before he left. When he did and Epona came to greet him I told him to take her on his journey. She was mature enough to ride now and I had done so myself a few times. Link declined at first but I begged him to let me do what I could to help him in his quest. Link's reaction almost made me feel like he had heard this from me before, even though that was impossible. With a smile he mounted Epona like he had done so a hundred times before, thanked me one last time and rode off across the field.

I remember crying that day. I had given up my only two friends. But if I had to go back I'd do it all over again. Link had given me something I could never have had otherwise because I grew up on the ranch and I was determined to pay him back no matter what.

I guess that was a period of change in my life. Later that year I finally convinced my father that I wasn't just a little girl anymore. From then on I did my share of the chores, albeit the easier ones, in order to support my place on the farm. Mr. Ingo taught me a lot. It made me respect the work he had been doing all those years.

I worked day and night and did little else. My dad began to worry about me and he was probably right in doing so. I was trying to focus on anything but the two friends I had given up. Even though I still had my father anyone would know that a girl needs other companionship than two grown men. Even the animals I loved weren't the same without Epona. In truth I began to sing my mother's song less and less over the following days. How could I? It was the symbol of friendship between me, Eponaand Link. The days without them were hard enough to bear without a reminder of what I was missing. When I did sleep I focused on the happy memories and I even told myself that when they did return Navi would be with them, meaning I would have another friend to share more good times with.

That's what I told myself. It wasn't much but it was how I felt and it got me through my friendless months.

Of course, it was over those months that I had begun to question just how much of a friend Link really was to me. Based on how hard it was without him, I was beginning to wonder if I felt more. More than I probably should have for a boy who never spent more than a day with me at a time.

Still, regardless of the quantity of time we spent together, the quality was unmatched. I wouldn't trade my laughs and tears and quiet moments with Link for anything in the world.

Anything but Link's own happiness, that is.

* * *

**AoA: Okay, I have to say that this isn't where I planned to end Malon's POV but I realized that it's not good for a story to vary the length of it's chapters so I'm splitting this one into two parts.**

**Malon: Alright! More of me!**

**Link: Yeah, whatever. Hey AoA, why'd you write so much for Malon anyways?**

**AoA: I figured Malon is a character in Zelda that the game never really got much of a chance to develop so I'm doing it for them. I'm trying to express the kind of life that Malon would have had to accept if it wasn't for Link's friendship. I think that it was a fine basis for a young romance to spring from. Also I wanteed to touch on how hard it would have been for her to give up Epona at that young age for the Majora's Mask game. I think it would have been a lot harder on her than it was on the adult Malon in the alternate future.**

**Malon: I'm glad I get some character development. Hopefully this will keep people from calling me a Mary Sue.**

**Link: Maybe not for this story, but for the rest of the Zelda universe you probably will still get called a…**

**AoA: Hey! No calling any characters I use in my fan fictions Mary Sues! It's disrespectful!**

**Link: (Cowering in the corner) Y-yes sir.**

**AoA: Expect the next chapter soon dear reviewers. Peace out!**


	3. Malon Part II

**AoA: Okay faithful and new readers, this is the second part of Malon's story. If you add both parts together you'll see why I had to split them to keep my chapters all relatively the same size.**

**Link: After so much writing you'd think you'd be better at romance by now.**

**AoA: Shut up Link. I need reviews to get better, not sarcastic comments.**

**Malon: Who's going to do the disclaimer? I already did it for part one.**

**AoA: Good point. I think I'll have an upcoming OC of mine do the honours.**

**Locke: Hello everyone.**

**Link: He looks…familiar.**

**Malon: Where have I seen him before? Maybe if his hair wasn't covering half his face…**

**AoA: Uh, you're imagining things. Locke, please do the honours.**

**Locke: Though Angel of Atonement does own me, he does not own the Legend of Zelda series or anything officially associated with it.**

**Link: Are you sure I've never seen him before?**

**AoA: Here we go!**

**

* * *

**

**Love or Happiness?**

**Malon - Part II: Love   
**

I suppose it really is true what they say. Friendship is the perfect base for love between two people. I know that was true for me, at least.

We were both fourteen years old when Link returned nearly a year after he'd gone searching for Navi. I remember the day I got the letter from him. Unlike every other letter he had sent, this one was addressed to me specifically and not to dad and Ingo as well. I don't know if Link intended that, but I noticed and it meant a lot to me. The letter was from Hyrule Castle. Link said that he had returned from his trip and would be returning to the ranch in a few days.

I guess he wanted to see the Princess for something first, but that didn't matter to me right then. I still have that letter, stored away with other fond memories. It still has the stains from my tears falling on it. I felt so happy that day. The next few days of work felt like nothing because I knew my best friends were returning to me at long last.

Link had not given a specific time for when he would be back so I could do nothing but work until he returned. It was on the evening of the third day since I got the letter that it happened. I was in the barn baling some hay for the livestock, blissfully thinking about my upcoming reunion while at the same time worrying about just how long I would have to wait.

That's when I heard it.

A very faint sound that had to be music was coming from outside. I curiously put my pitchfork away and stepped out to look around. In the center of the field I saw him. The boy clad in green with his back facing away from me. The clear sky allowed the moon's light to illuminate his figure magically. I ran forward while crying tears of joy as Link played Epona's Song on his ocarina. The music enveloped me and made me feel like I could just close my eyes and float on Link's beautiful music forever, but I knew I could never be satisfied just by that.

Link heard my approach and turned around with a smile. I called out the nickname I had given him when we first met as I ran right in to him and landed us both on the ground sharing a tight embrace. I buried my face in his chest as he hugged me back and laughed. I could feel Epona standing next to us and hear her snort her approval. I would welcome her back soon enough, but for that instant all I wanted was to stay in this perfect moment. Every feeling I thought I might have had for Link was confirmed as I let his scent flood my senses.

Eventually I propped my head up and smiled at him. I said my hello and he said his back, after which we helped each other up. Epona nuzzled my face and I returned a kiss to her as I caressed her grown features. She was almost fully grown now and I could see how well Link had been taking care of her by her shiny coat and muscular frame. She was a beautiful sight to behold and I was overjoyed that Link had shown such love to my gift for him.

After a few more emotional moments I led Link back to the house where Father and Ingo greeted him with great kindness as well. He returned their warm feelings and was offered the guest room once more. He gratefully accepted and soon turned in for the night while Epona rested with her old family.

Link took me in to his room for a few moments before he went to sleep. He told me about how he had found Navi in the Lost Woods after many new adventures that he hadn't the time to describe. He told me about how the two of them had finally been able to say goodbye properly but that they weren't able to stay together because of the rules of her people. I was sad to not have her back, but I could tell Link was finally happy again. All he really needed was closure.

I remember having the most peaceful sleep I'd ever had in my life that night. I knew things would be better from that day on, even if it didn't last forever.

Tomorrow morning came early like it always did for those who worked on a ranch, but to all our surprise Link was up with us at dawn. It was then that he asked Talon for a chance to work on the ranch. I asked him about his work at the castle and he explained that he couldn't become a Knight of Hyrule until he was at least twenty years old after an apprenticeship of two years starting at the age of eighteen. Until then he would rather work at Lon Lon Ranch while practicing his swordsmanship.

I could tell my father was unsure about hiring a new ranch hand but when he looked over at me and saw the intense look of hopefulness in my eyes I guess he realized what would make me happiest. I spent that day showing Link the finer points of ranch work and figuring out how our work loads would be split. We were both fourteen now and capable of most the required chores. Link had offered to work for nothing but a room and food so I asked him why he wanted nothing more. His answer was simply that he didn't need any money because everything he wanted was already available.

Link had a soft look in his eyes when he said that to me and I'm sure I must have blushed slightly. My dearest friend was back and I never wanted to let him go. In truth I wanted him to forget about his goal of being a knight but I would never say anything about it.

I always seemed to put his happiness over my own, I just didn't understand why.

Over the many weeks that followed Link showed an amazing aptitude for ranch life. With three workers to do the work that Mr. Ingo once did mainly by himself, because my father never really did become very active as a worker, the ranch was soon more prosperous than it had ever been. Link and I soon had more free time than usual and Ingo's attitude started to lighten from not having to pull all the weight by himself. My father even seemed to be inspired by this and helped out a little more than usual every now and then.

Link and I performed my mother's song for the livestock every day and in time it seemed like even the animals were in higher spirits than usual, producing higher quality milk and eggs than they used to.

Of course, we wouldn't even have as many eggs to collect and sell if it wasn't for Link. He knew a lady from Kakariko Village who raised cucoos for a living but was ironically allergic to them. He worked out a deal with her for us that we never could have profited from otherwise. He hired a carpenter crew using rupees he earned on his journeys and built us a cucoo coop expansion on the barn. The woman from Kakariko then leased the task of raising and caring for the cucoos to us at Lon Lon Ranch along with the ones we already had in exchange for a cut of their profits. This freed her to continue her breeding and growth experiments without having to worry about the well being of her fowl. With the cucoo coop we no longer had to keep the birds in the house so it was a considerably nicer place to live. Actually, without cucoos in the house my father no longer had an excuse to sit inside all day and became unofficially in charge of chores related to his favourite ranch animal.

It didn't take long for all of us to realize that Link was making our lives better than they had ever been before. He would sometimes ask dad for a day or two off for some more vigorous training than just the few spare hours he had each day and he was never refused. Actually, even though he didn't have many spare hours during the day he would always make time for me whenever I wanted. I felt so happy during those days. It was like everything was working out perfectly in my life. Even with him practicing all the time I rarely thought about how he would leave us after just four years. He made me feel too happy to think of anything but good times that had passed and had yet to be.

Over the following months the affection that I had hidden from my personal hero only deepened from the wonderful times we shared together. I didn't know if he returned my feelings but I knew that I wished he had. Regardless of his intentions he was still succeeding in winning my heart.

I remember all the simple little things he would do that made my heart flutter. I would be working on the field or in the barn and he would come up from behind me. I'd think that he was just working but then he'd suddenly wrap his arms around me with a surprise hug from behind. He'd whisper a hello in my ear after my initial surprise faded. These hugs were spread out enough that I never expected them, but each one filled me with the joy of being in his arms.

I also remember the days that Link's friends from the Castle Town, most aspiring to be knights themselves, would visit the ranch. They'd help us to finish our chores early so link could hang out, but he always invited me along. In fact, whenever I wanted to do something else, like when we were the ones visiting Castle Town on a delivery or a day off and his friends approached him but I wanted to shop or play games, he would always do whatever I wanted. I asked him once why he always turned down his friends, who he rarely got to see, to do what I wanted when he spent time with me every day anyway.

He just told me that their friendship was important to him but not as much as mine.

I know I must have blushed that day because Link laughed playfully afterward and put his arm around my shoulder as we walked back to the field. Epona was waiting patiently to take us home.

There was one time, before he told me that, when he left me to be with his friends after a delivery. I let him because he had always chosen me over them before, but I'd be lying to myself again if I said that I wasn't a little worried. Part of me wondered if Link was starting to get tired of me.

My suspicions were unfound, it seemed, because on our ride home an hour later he surprised me with a gift. He had left so he could buy it for me in secret. Inside the package was a beautiful white beaded necklace with a yellow Triforce emblem hanging off it. It was the first real present Link ever bought for me.

I would wear that necklace for years to come. It was gorgeous.

After Link was with us at the ranch for five months I didn't think I could contain my vastly rising well of love for that boy. It got so bad that just seeing him at his chores, working those alluring muscles, or seeing him happily interacting sweetly with all of our animals would send my heart beating faster, my cheeks flushing red and my breathing becoming heavy. I knew what it all meant, especially when a smile from those handsome features would make me melt in place. Link was my fondest childhood memory and now he had become my greatest hope for the future.

Have other girls experienced these feelings? Are there any others who know how love can blossom that way? I believe so. What I felt for Link just seemed right. Like it was the most obvious thing in the world that I should feel that way.

I never thought of myself as a romantic, but I suppose that's what I was.

Eventually it was too much for me to bear anymore. No matter how Link felt, even though I knew in my heart that he would never hurt me, I had to let him know. Perhaps Link could sense my intentions because it was on that cloudless sunny day that we had both been given off work he asked me to come with him for a walk.

The field itself seemed at peace with singing birds and a sweet smelling breeze wafting across the open plains.

He led me to a secluded corner of Hyrule Field where I found a picnic lunch all set up for us. It had been guarded by Epona for us and we shared the meal happily. Afterwards Link invited me for another walk across the field and this time we went hand in hand.

Blushing like crazy I tried to muster up the courage to tell the boy I loved how I felt, but before I could utter a word he was telling me how beautiful I had become and how he loved living on the ranch with all of us.

I know I must have sounded silly when I giggled a thank you at Link and told him that he had become a fine young man. The next thing I knew Link had taken me in to his arms by the waist and was holding me in to the air, spinning around and laughing at my screams of objection. He mockingly asked if I wanted to put down and I cried yes, but in my mind I never wanted him to stop. He was making me feel more special than I ever had in my entire life. More special than when he confided his stories about time travel and his heroic deeds in other lands to me a few months ago.

I had found his tales to be wild at first, especially about what happened to the ranch, but I knew Link was not lying by the steel in his voice as he spoke. I knew Link had been forced to experience more than any boy should have in order to save so many people and I only hoped that I could somehow help to ease his troubled soul.

Eventually Link did stop spinning me around, though I remained in the air. Link held me up and I propped myself higher by holding myself with my hands on his shoulders. He looked up at me with those beautiful cerulean eyes and I could feel my heart begging me to give in to my desires. The quivering of his own lips seduced me even further as I slowly lowered myself towards him by bending the arms that held me up from him. Eventually both our eyes closed and our first kiss was initiated. I could feel him accepting my kiss and returning it himself. Eventually I was lowered to the earth and wrapped my arms around his neck. Link embraced me closer and deepened the kiss. I could feel him returning every ounce of affection that I poured out to him and I sank in to a feeling of bliss that lasted for months to come.

Yes we were young, both just fourteen years old, but we had grown close over the time we spent working and living together. I wouldn't give up that first experience for anything in the world.

Anything except, again, Link's happiness.

Unfortunately for us, that statement would be put to the test sooner than I would have liked.

It was little more than two months after our true romance began that Hyrule was engulfed in war. A legion of violent explorers from across the sea suddenly trekked across the mountains that had protected our land from outside forces for centuries and invaded the settlements located near the edge of the border.

Hyrule was quick to respond by uniting the races of the country together in a great army that fought back against the invasion. Unfortunately the explorers were very powerful warriors skilled in multiple forms of combat and magic. They successfully held their own against the people of Hyrule and managed to establish a colony at the base of the very mountains they had crossed. Their only purpose seemed to be to conquer Hyrule and return to their own homeland with it's treasures and resources.

Being the hero that he is, Link was quick to set out to aid his country. I begged him not to go, being far younger than any knight, but Link could not be stopped and I know in my heart I wouldn't love him as much if he were the kind of man who would.

I cried for months after Link left. The war raged on and I heard no word from him. My heart was broken and part of me wondered if I could ever truly forgive him for leaving me.

Two months later, with no end to the war in sight, the farm was going through hard times. Link had helped us expand the ranch's land and profits but now we had a very hard time running it with just three workers. Dad was forced to hire a new hand in order to keep us afloat during these hard times.

Derek, a fifteen year old boy with a strong but small frame and shortly trimmed brown hair was the one to eventually answer our plight. I remember him being very kind to me while he worked there even before he knew about Link and I. Something I always liked about Derek was how he always stayed cheerful and optimistic, despite the troubling events occurring in the world. He made us all feel a little better, especially after the mail stopped running and Link could no longer keep in contact.

There was one other thing about Derek that I liked. It was his eyes. They were a bright blue and full of happiness, just like Link's. He always reminded me of happier times whenever I looked in to those orbs. It became one of the few things that made me feel at peace those days.

I guess that's how it happened. I guess all those times I looked in to his eyes with love were the reason Derek fell for me. The reason he kissed me.

The war had been droning on for two years. Hyrule had even begun attacks on the invader's home country in retaliation while attacks sill took place here. Link had been gone from my life for so long I felt like I would never get him back.

I told Derek how I felt. I tried o explain what I wanted, but I guess even I didn't really know myself back then. The truth is, Derek had been a godsend to us and he had become as much a source of happiness for me as Link had been. After a few more months of spending intimate, though not romantic, time with him I eventually gave in. I missed Link so much that I couldn't stand it. I know I shouldn't have tried to find comfort in Derek, but I guess I'm just not a very strong person. Not without someone I care about to inspire me.

Derek was never anything less than chivalrous with me. He knew how I felt but did what he believed could help me get through my pain. For several months we were together and slowly I knew what I felt was no longer just comfort. Derek's considerate nature and determined personality had won me over. On nights when the knights protecting the ranch determined it safe enough for us to leave we would go stargazing and have talks just like I had with Link so many years ago.

I knew I was in love again, but I didn't know what to do about my feelings for Link. It was like he had disappeared and my heart had not yet fully healed. However, with Derek's help, I eventually stopped crying myself to sleep. Not a day went by that I didn't think of Link, but it was the precious times we spent together happily that I was remembering now. It just made life a little easier.

There was a celebration that night. It was the night that the war was declared to be over. Hyrule had won and the invaders had been defeated. Derek and I were so happy. We were both sixteen at that time and very happy together. The one thing I questioned was just how much I really loved him. Would I still want to be with him if link hadn't left? Deep down I was sure I wouldn't.

I'm almost at the end of the aisle now. Through my veil I can see Link and Derek waiting for me at the altar. I guess I've almost run out of time to reflect upon the lessons love has taught me. My future husband's choice of best man didn't really surprise me. Without both willing to give me up for the other based on my own feelings who knows how bad things could have become?

Link returned one day, very much alive. I cried. I ran. I hugged him and kissed him. But I wasn't completely happy either. This meant that Link had survived the war but it also meant I had cheated on him with Derek. It also meant I would have to break Derek's heart, which was something I very much did not want to do.

I guess I didn't have to.

Link was changed by the war. He seemed far older than his body would lead one to believe. He still looked at me with love but there was a glint of something new in those eyes as well. He told us all about the difficulties of the war, about the friends he had lost and the sacrifices he had made. When all was said and done he told us that he wouldn't be returning to the ranch.

I was crushed.

The night Link left I confronted him on the fields, furious. I screamed, cried and slapped him all at once. I couldn't believe what he was doing to me.

Link had his reasons. I cried heavily in to his arms when he held me close after the outburst. He whispered his intentions in a soothing manner. He was afraid that the type of person he was could not make me happy. He was afraid that he would cause me too much worry. He also told me that I may have found a chance at real happiness and that I shouldn't pass it up.

He knew about Derek. He could tell from the look on the boy's face when Link and I were together. He had looked sad and yet understanding, like he knew it could someday come to this, that I would leave him for my first love.

But I didn't.

Link and I set things right between us before he left to find a new place for himself. He stayed until we both understood the other's feelings. He wanted me to be happy more than he wanted to be happy with me, just like I had felt for him. He wanted me to find out if Derek could do hat for me and in my heart I knew I wanted to know as well. Derek appeared there before Link left. The two had a brief exchange but separated as friends. I was such a lucky girl to have two people who cared about me so much.

And now here I am, pledging my life to the one I know will make me happier than any other. I'm sure he feels the same way. I can see it in his eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes that I fell in love with twice over.

Link has found his rightful place in the world and so have I. I have no doubts about the future now. Both my first love and I will be happy and that is a truly wonderful feeling.

The time for reflection is over. Now I have to close the book on my past, not to forget it, but to focus on making the future I've always wanted.

I know we'll be happy.

"I do."

* * *

**AoA: Whew! It's over! I think I broke the rules of first person by putting a quote at the end. What do you guys think?  
**

**Derek: Why couldn't I do the disclaimer?**

**AoA: Because I didn't want to introduce you before you came up in the story.**

**Malon: I never really got to explain my feelings with Derek much.**

**Link: What do you want? Three chapters devoted to you? It's long enough already.**

**AoA: That's how I felt, but let's allow the readers to decide. Please review and be as honest as possible. I'm actually getting quite a bit of praise for this story, so some criticism won't kill me. I promise. Don't worry.**

**Derek: You say that now…**

**Link: Shut up, girl thief.**

**Malon: You said you wanted me to date him!**

**Derek: Say, which of us did she marry anyways?**

**AoA: That's for Link's chapter to reveal.**

**Link: You don' even know what you're gonna do next chapter, let alone mine.**

**AoA: Not true. The next chapter is Nabooru's POV. Find out what's been going on with her all this time and what connection she shares with Link and his quest for happiness.**

**Malon: I could have made him happy…**

**Link: Shut up, spotlight hog.**

**AoA: Peace out!**


	4. Nabooru Part I

**AoA****: It was a long time coming but here it is. The next chapter of my first POV fic. I might do more of these. It seems to be going well.**

**Link****: Why do you still do these little introductions? You get told they're in the way a lot and you dislike writing them.**

**AoA****: True. Both true.**

**Nabooru****: He does them for three reasons. One: He's gotten more compliments for them than complaints when you look at all his story reviews over time. Two: He enjoys reading them in other fics.**

**Link****: What's the third?**

**AoA****: I'm too lazy to do my own disclaimers. Speaking of which...**

**Nabooru****: Angel of Atonement does not own the Legend of Zelda. It is copyrighted by Nintendo.**

**Link****: Too bad the people who don't like these things probably won't even know you're giving them an explanation.**

**AoA****: Darn. I knew I forgot something important. Anyway, please let me know if you find any writing errors. I'll correct them immediatly once found.  
**

**Link****: At this point maybe we should remind them that Nabooru has no recollection of what happened after Zelda repaired the time line at the end of OoT.**

**Nabooru****: Yeah. Angel believes that there are two of the people who became the sages. The originals who stayed as sages after the big time change and continue to protect Hyrule and the ones who never had the chance to become sages since time went back and just live their lives as they would have if Ganondorf had never existed. Basically there's the new timeline me and the sage me still watching over Hyrule, as is for everyone. Including Zelda.  
**

**Angel: Here we go!**

**

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**

**Love or Happiness?**

**Nabooru - Part I: War**

Maternal love.

It's quite different from anything I would have ever imagined. For one thing someone like me, who has no children of her own, is capable of having it.

And for someone I never could have predicted.

I suppose it's not entirely unimaginable, considering the circumstances that led to my small experience in the feelings of motherhood. When I was growing up and being raised to be the next leader of my people it was very hectic. The life of a Gerudo is a harsh one as it is, but for me it was even more difficult.

We Gerudo live in the desert area of Hyrule. The canyons that serve as the only way to reach the desert from Hyrule are the place we make our main home, the Gerudo Fortress. We rarely go into Hyrule unless it is on a secret mission of thievery. It is as thieves that our people supported ourselves in the past and we continue to do so today, even if it must be kept in secret to avoid breaking various peace treaties. Of course, the fact that we are dark skinned compared to the light skinned Hylians makes it difficult to go unnoticed and life continued to be made even harder on us because of that. Our common trait of long red hair is another thing that stands out and adds to the problem. Life among the sand and rocks is a tough one, especially on a little girl.

Of course, by little girl I don't just mean me. It applies to all of us, since the Gerudo are a race of females. Only once every one hundred years is a male child born into the Gerudo clan. By law that man must become our leader. In the old days his title was the King of Thieves, but since our struggling race could not be known as criminals that title would be changed.

But this ancient tradition was just one more thing that made my childhood less than pleasant. Years before I was born was the time for our next leader's birth.

But...he never came.

I was born into the family that leads the Gerudo during times without a king. Those who would normally serve as second in command of our warrior tribe. Because of the absence of a male my people were in a leadership crisis long before I was even conceived. Eventually it had been decided to just continue waiting as we normally would, even if it took another hundred years. As a result my family line stayed in command.

The responsibilities placed on me as soon as I was able to think intelligently were immense. My mother was always there for me, but more as a teacher than a parental figure. And even then she was always busy with clan issues. Most of my studying, combat training and thief practice was done by official tutors to the leading family.

Family...to a Gerudo that means a mother and possibly a sister if you were born a twin. I was not and my mother was far too occupied to be there for me as much as she needed to be. As much as I now know she wished she could have been.

The desert is a harsh place to live. My mother died in that desert when I was sixteen. She managed to save the girls traveling with her by her sacrifice. I was told that she asked them to tell me that she was sorry.

I knew what she meant. I had spent few precious moments with my mother but I would treasure them always.

But I couldn't cry.

The moment my mother died I became the new leader of my people. A difficult task for a young woman but I rose to the occasion to the best of my ability. I continued to grow, learn and train both myself and the others around me. I became closer to the people around me, perhaps unconsciously looking for a family to replace the one I'd lost. Despite the fact that I found no such replacement I still loved my fellow Gerudo and they both respected and cared for me in return.

Life was hard, but we all faced it together. Like my mother I would put my people's safety and happiness first. We would overcome the desert.

Unfortunately there was another enemy we would have to face. One that I was completely unprepared for.

After years of successfully leading the Gerudo Hyrule was suddenly engulfed in a territorial war. Invaders from over the mountains and across the sea began to attack the people and pillage the towns. Land was claimed and resources secured. Hyrule's various races began to build their defences and successfully repelled the initial assault, allowing them a chance to fight back.

But not all the races. One race was the example the others learned by.

My race.

The invaders came upon us first as they crossed the mountains. Gerudo Fortress was suddenly under siege by a people who fought with a terrifying strength and frightening rage in battle. We had the advantage of location and supplies, but not numbers. We were completely overwhelmed as the people made their first camp in Hyrule.

Gerudo Fortress now belonged to them.

Most of us escaped into the fields and made our way to the castle to warn King Hyrule, but a still others were left behind to fates we couldn't bear to imagine. With our warning the other people of Hyrule prepared for war and successfully fought back against the sudden invasion.

Me and my refugees of the once proud race were accepted into Hyrule Castle at first, where we fought alongside the Hylian Knights when necessary. The enemy was good at war, as I imagine they had much practice over who know how much time. They made raiding parties of good numbers and never spread their forces too thin or allowed a weakness in their defences or allowed their slowly growing territory to be claimed back. My people soon became more well known as assassins than as the thieves of old. Many times we were made into groups to accompany the knight in secret and surprise the enemy forces with sudden attacks and quick retreats.

We all welcomed the chance to get back at the ones who destroyed our way of life, but it was dangerous work and more of my girls were lost as the battles went on.

I think I remember the very first time I saw him now. A flash of green fighting alongside the knights as we encountered the enemy party on Hyrule Field, which I barely saw due to my role as an assassin, quick to return to the sidelines. I do remember, however, a conversation some knights were having as we returned to the castle after a small victory. It was about an underage boy who joined the fight without consent. I didn't ask them about it, since we Gerudo were still not on very close speaking terms with the Hylians when it came to anything but the business of the war.

But I do remember one thing they said.

"_We should have arrested the kid but...I doubt the outcome would have been so good without him."_

Some day I'll ask him if it was him in that battle, but I doubt he'd remember. He's seen so many.

Eventually I saw him for the first official time. I was on my way to a meeting with the king when I saw a young lad in a strange green outfit talking to the guards at the royal gates. He was apparently begging them to let him join the army. Of course we needed soldiers, but the underage boys could only join in the reserves, where the main focus was training. This kid was demanding to join the front lines. I shrugged it off at the time as a hot headed youth just wanted to fight for his country, but I also remember the look in his eyes. It was determined. For a split second I think I admired that boy for his courage. But even if I did, it was quickly forgotten as I moved on.

Eventually the time came when my people and I could wait no longer. We had to reclaim our home and rescue any survivors. The king refused our pleas at first but we were determined. The enemy had created several settlements in the land they had captured. The defences at the fortress were as weak as they were going to get, and if they lost it their overall military strength would be vastly decreased.

In secret every Gerudo left the castle one knight, using every ounce of our skill as thieves to get out. We crossed the fields and made our way back to the desert, avoiding enemy patrols with small traveling parties. Soon we had all converged upon Gerudo Valley.

Our home.

We fought with all the stealth and speed we could muster. Many of them fell in secret before the enemy was even aware they were under attack. I myself moved through the fortress' secret passageways to the jail cells where I found the survivors in chains.

I would later learn that they were used as slaves for all that time, staying locked in the dungeons when not being used for some menial task. They were weak, but they were also Gerudo and they embraced their chance at escape. Their hope filled them with the power they needed.

But it wasn't enough.

King Hyrule was right. The enemy was not willing to let us out alive.

We moved and fought, losing few in combat but still gaining no headway. Eventually we managed to force a small opening in their blockades. Enough for half of us to escape.

I stayed behind with my most trusted warriors. We fled in the opposite direction, entering the desert.

We crossed the Haunted Wasteland with the enemy on our heels, the atmosphere of death and despair closing in on us from all sides. Two more were lost as they sacrificed themselves to slow the enemy's advances.

I could have done what my mother did, but I chose not to. I had to live to protect those who I could. We fought our way to the Desert Colossus, the ancient Spirit Temple that was constructed in the desert centuries ago. In the shadow of the giant statue that housed the temple inside was an oasis. It was there that we rested.

Our spirits were low and our hopes all but crushed. By the time those who escaped made it back to the castle to ask for help, if they made it back and if help was granted, we would already have been found.

The temple itself was useless as a means to protect ourselves. Besides the first room all other chambers had their paths sealed off by ancient traps and devices. Despite my doubts I convinced my fellow warriors to stay proud to the end. We would make our last stand here.

They came. We fought. And we retreated. Being assassins for so long, fighting alongside the knights as the main attack force, had lowered our skills in all out combat. Soon we were pressed back and surrounded. We were out of hope.

But hope came anyway.

From the same desert our enemies had flowed out from came a small party of knights. The Hylians had come with ridiculous speed, but I didn't stop to worry about that at the time. We saw our chance to live and we took it. Together we pressed at the enemy from both sides. The battle's tide was turned in our favour.

That was our first face to face meeting. Just as I thought victory was ours I was struck by a fist from behind. Falling to the sands I turned over in time to see a barbarian swinging an axe down towards me.

I closed my eyes, but the axe never reached me. At the sound of metal clashing against metal I saw as young boy in green holding back the axe with his sword, inexplicably matching the brute's strength. I saw him tremble, sweat and groan in pain and effort, but I also saw that he refused to budge an inch from his place between my attacker and I.

The spears of two knights entered the assailant's back, finally ending the battle. The boy in green collapsed in the sand in front of me and I sprung up to examine him immediately. It was my first instinct before exhaustion finally claimed my consciousness as well.

We had won. I awoke in my old fortress later that day to learn that those who had managed to escape had barely covered any distance across the fields before a massive force of Hylian Knights rode in to rescue them and resume the attack on the fortress. They had moved in and used the enemy's confusion to force them out to their other camps, making Gerudo Valley the first piece of land successfully recaptured from the invaders.

Occupying the bed next to mine in the medical wing of the fortress as the young boy that had saved my life.

At the time I had no idea just how much of an understatement that was.

According to the freed Gerudo slaves, that boy had met with them asking about me after they had been picked up by the knights. The knights asked him to leave but he kept asking. I had no idea why he would care so much about me and neither did they, but afterwards he ran off and entered the battle for the fortress.

It was after I talked with them that some knights came, wondering what to do about the boy. They told me that he had not fought for the fortress, but managed to get the attention of enough knights during the battle to organize a rescue party to enter the desert where my warriors and I had fled. Apparently he had led them across the desert as easily as if he had already known the way, and it was because of him alone that the party had managed to rescue us.

I didn't think I could feel more indebted to that boy than I did at that moment.

I was wrong.

The next person to visit me, just as I was being admitted from the medical wing with as fully recovered, as an emissary from the castle. The Sheikah woman Impa met with me in private to relay the king's message. He was furious that we had ignored his advice and risked so many lives, but also relieved that all had gone surprisingly well. From that point on we Gerudo would reclaim our place as one of Hyrule's leading races and would be more involved in the overall planning of the war.

I asked the woman to thank the king for changing his mind about attacking the fortress so quickly only to receive another shock. Almost immediately after we had left the castle a young boy in green had appeared, screaming that he had seen the Gerudo leaving the castle secretly. He had guessed that we were going to the fortress and once our absence was confirmed the King agreed and sent the largest force he could to back us up.

And even after all that the boy had still followed on his own to ensure our safety.

After Impa left me alone in my quarters I remember staring out the window into the rocky valley, amazed. I watched my people work hard rebuilding what we had lost and I couldn't help but think that we owed it all to that boy.

More specifically, I owed everything I had to that boy. My life, my people and even my home.

It was after that realization that I saw him being escorted out of the valley by some knights. On pure instinct i leaped out of my own window and raced to catch up to them.

I had to speak with that boy.

He looked happy to see me. Like someone finding an old friend safe and sound. I remember kneeling down and asking his name. His answer was Link. I introduced myself, but he just smiled like he was humoring me or something. Of course, at the time I was far too grateful to notice. I expressed my thanks but we were interrupted by the guards. They told me that Link was to be taken back to Hyrule and presented to the king for interrogation regarding his actions towards the war. Link asked the guards if there was any chance he would be allowed to fight but they told him that he would most likely still not get any farther than the reserves.

I saw the disappointed look on Link's face. I could almost feel my own heart breaking just from the sight of it. All he wanted was to help his people.

No...not just his people. My people as well. What this boy wanted was to protect all people.

And so, before they could resume taking him away, I asked him.

"_Would you like to fight with us?"_

I remember his smile. It was probably the first time I saw it, now that I think about it. I couldn't help but smile in returned at the overjoyed and yet determined look on his face. Especially in his eyes. The eyes that radiated a confidence I'd never known in myself.

The knights told us it was impossible. As a citizen of Hyrule Link would have to go before the king for his interference in the war.

I remember how Link just looked at me expectantly, as if he already knew what i was going to do. I guess he just had confidence that I knew what to do. There was no way he could have known about the membership card.

The card had been placed in Gerudo law centuries ago. It allowed us to make outsiders a part of our clan if they had the desire and we fount their skills or motives acceptable. The card had never once been used and I am certain it was never intended for a man, but I used it right then and there, asking Link if he would accept a place in our tribe.

He did so without hesitation.

The knights could do nothing but return word to their king. As an official member of the Gerudo Link now fell under our jurisdiction and not the king's. He was my citizen now and my responsibility.

I led Link back towards the fortress to introduce him to his new sisters after the knights left. I looked down and asked him if he was sure he wouldn't have any regrets later, joining our tribe just to fight in the war.

His words would forever cement my opinion of him from that point on.

"_I didn't just join to fight a war. I also want to do my part to make sure you don't lose what you just fought so hard to win back. I won't let my people down."_

It was the last sentence I remember so well. It was the way he said it that just made you instantly understand. When he said his people he didn't mean the Gerudo. He didn't even mean the Hylians.

The Gorons, Zoras, Shiekah and probably even the legendary Kokiri were all on that boy's mind when he spoke those words.

His people were all people.

Life in the desert is a tough one, but he was willing to face it.

For his people.

* * *

**AoA****: And another chapter bites the dust.**

**Link****: ...  
**

**AoA****: What?**

**Link****: Don't...ever...say that again...please.**

**AoA****: Everyone's a critic. At least I hope you all are. I need your constructive criticism more than ever because this was the first chapter to really focus more on the drama than the romance, which is the secondary category but has been getting the spotlight so far.**

**Nabooru****: Yeah. Does this new pace ruin what you were expecting? Hopefully no one thought I was going to fall for Link or something. I'm at least twice his age.**

**Link****: Like that matters to fanfiction readers. Anyway, more drama next chapter in part two of Nabooru's POV, but more of the emotional kind rather than the physical kind.**

**AoA****: But plenty of that too.**

**Nabooru****: Doesn't it ever worry or bother you that you're writing the deepest emotions and thoughts of female characters that you didn't even create yet you're a guy?**

**AoA****: Hmm...considering that I made you ask that just now I'd say it probably does, but I'm being told that I do such a good job that I'm starting to get more confident. Of course, now I'm worried about being too cocky and getting sloppy...**

**Link****: Sounds like you. You want this to stay your most popular fic, don't you?**

**AoA****: Actually I'd prefer if my new Zelda story was the most popular, but I'm not giving up on this one either.**

**Nabooru****: Was that a plug for Runes of Space?**

**AoA****: Uh...no comment.**

**Link****: Come to think of it...that OC guy who did the disclaimer last chapter. Is he...**

**AoA****: Peace out!**


End file.
